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Psalm 145 reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible: 1 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. 4 One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. 5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They tell of the power of your awesome works and I will proclaim your great deeds. 7 They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. 8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. 9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. 10 All your works praise you, LORD; your faithful people extol you. 11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, 12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. 14 The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. 20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever. This psalm is a product of the meditation of David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and it speaks of the presence of the Lord seen from afar in its majesty, but then somehow this presence comes near to one individual who comes within the presence of the help and mercy of the Lord. The psalm does give a model as to where to go in meditation. Overall this psalm brings to the forefront the sweeping presence of the Holy Spirit. From the Gospel of Luke in Chapter 16 we have the parable of the lost coin which reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible. 8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins] and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Biblical scholars have interpreted this woman to be representing the presence of the Holy Spirit, who sweeps the room for one lost coin. The person in this parable continues searching carefully as she sweeps everywhere that this coin could possibly be. The lost coin in this parable would parallel those who are mentioned as falling in this psalm as the coin did fall and was lost somewhere. The woman is sweeping everywhere for this coin is coming close, nearing this one lost coin as she sweeps widely and throughout the whole house. The works and majestic presence of the Spirit can be seen in nature. There are sweeping landscapes, majestic mountain ranges, and surreal dunes in places like the Sahara. All this can be potentially seen in person. There is a sweeping grandeur to be seen in the presence of nature. The seas can reach to the shores in beautiful sweeping waves; the shores themselves can have a majestic presence with sweeping sandy shores lines. And yet all this beauty and wonder in the distance can come close, near to your spot on the shore or majestic terrain. Pleasant landscapes for all of us to see are evidence of the Spirit’s tender mercies and sweeping presence. With the lifting up there is a call back to the tender mercies the Spirit does have for all. With the lifting up of the fallen there is a call forward to the inclusion of tender mercy, lifting up into the hand that satisfies. As the hand of the woman looking for the lost coin will sweep until that coin is back in her hand, the Spirit will bring the hand of tender mercy to those who call in truth and sincerity. That the land is able to produce grain, fruit, in abundance is evidence of the Spirit’s mercy. It is the same mercy that will give credence to your own particular and maybe special and unique needs as well as the more universal needs you may be experiencing. The same tender mercy that gives to all in terms of awesome sights of wonders in NATURE also tends to the particular needs you may have. The greatness of the Lord is beyond understanding and reaches into srealms that are unsearchable from our vantage point. We can observe the rays of the sun upon the waters, and look yonder into the mighty seas, yet its inner workings and complexities are not within our grasp. Within that wide expanse of greatness that we can see, this psalm says that the indeed the Spirit will come near to those who sincerely call in prayer. This psalm also gives a model for prayer and possible ways to pray. One can ponder upon those who are falling in many of the ways that people may fall, and this can be the opening point of the intercession. These prayers can be very specific but also very great or big prayers. We can ask the Holy Spirit to sweep healing through a whole continent and the hand of the Spirit will reach within that continent to every lost coin and every need of healing. The greatness of the Spirit is unfathomable and not fully within our grasp, but the mysteries of prayer can be delved into the help of the Spirit, and there is a faithfulness to the faithful, the Holy Spirit will search for that one lost coin, showing rich love and compassion, with a sweeping presence that can breeze across the lands as the result of an intercession of the saints. The Spirit will also search the prayers of the saints and open the hand that satisfies as a response to these prayers. Verse 4 says, “ One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” The sweeping presence of the Holy Spirit is not only for then, but for now and for the future so we are called to act in the sweeping presence of the Holy Spirit right now.
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